• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

Does hydro affect heat level?

I have enough equipment to do both and was wondering which method would produce the hotter pepper. I know hydro will grow faster and get to there full potential sooner. I also know you can stress the plant to get the peppers hotter but is it worth the slower grow time and possibility of a bug infestation with the soil.
 
I have enough equipment to do both and was wondering which method would produce the hotter pepper. I know hydro will grow faster and get to there full potential sooner. I also know you can stress the plant to get the peppers hotter but is it worth the slower grow time and possibility of a bug infestation with the soil.

I want the answer too. It doesn't really seem possible to stress hydro peppers. I grew them both ways this year and didn't really notice a difference in heat. Although my soil bound peppers seemed to have a little more fullness to the pods.
 
You can stress a hydro pepper just as you stress a dirt pepper for faster maturity and heat (I have heard).

I am trying both, as my growing season isn't long enough to go full dirt, and I want peppers in the winter.
Seeds I started in May indoors and put out in June have some peppers on them, but the ones I planted in hydro on July 22nd are twice the size, and I don't plan on blooming them for another month.
 
I was also wondering if hydro would effect the flavor as well.

Some of my hydro pods tend to have that kerosene taste, but that could be that I got some of those pesky diesel varieties that have been floating around. Some of my soil bound pods have that same trait so I'm not wiling to sign off the hydros yet.
 
You can stress a hydro pepper just as you stress a dirt pepper for faster maturity and heat (I have heard).

That doesn't sound right unless you just pull the basket completely out of the water for a day or so.
 
There are additives for hydro that stress the plant so it will produce more oils. Fox Farm Cha Ching is one of them.

By chance do you know much about how Cha Ching actually works to cause the plant stress? Have you (or anybody else) used it and noticed the results that were advertised? Looks interesting.
 
Back
Top